John Carter

[Warhorse]

Huh?I'll just repeat what I said before: The jumping and the green tusked bipeds should've clued him in. In the book he knows immediately that he's on Mars, which isn't completely believable either but it should not have taken him as long as it did in the film to realize it.

I just don't see how anyone back in the 1800 would imagine themselves being on Earth one minute, and Mars the next.

[AniNate]

Yes, but the movie took it too far the other way.

[Impact]

John Carter2:55PMAbout 50%-60% (Quite nice for a 2nd weekend on a Friday afternoon)Trailers:Wrath of the Titans: I believe I've seen this trailer at ever film I've seen this year with the exception of the Lorax. Some talking.MIB3 (New trailer): Tons of laughs. Great trailer.Brave (New trailer): Felt like a teaser. Great reaction.Madagascar 3: Further proof the audience determines your trailer. Lorax and other family films this got tons of laughs. Here-Only laughs were at the Afro Circus and a couple other lines.Prometheus: Forgot this was 3D. No reaction, but that is expected for this type of film.Avengers (New trailer): Wow. Amazing. Great reaction here as well.Movie: Very fun. Fantastic music and the visuals were great. Yeah some of the lines were a bit cheesy. But overall an enjoyable film. I loved the look of the film. (Moab is a very beautiful place where it was filmed). This was marketed wrong. This was a great ride and I am certain this will become popular as time goes on. The audience really ate this up also. I really hope the Oscars can somehow remember this for visuals and music this year. (Unlikely) Oh and I loved how they called him Virginia. And I really want to see more of these films!A- Best film of 2012 so far.

[BiffMan]

I wasn't expecting much, as I was only vaguely familiar with the books and the trailers didn't do much to help, but I wound up quite enjoying it. It was hard to root for Carter for most of the film and not sure I cared for the anti-hero angle they went for, but from the midpoint on, I was hooked. Very satisfying ending and I wound up connecting pretty well with the movie and think I'll definitely see it again. Completely different reaction than I figured I'd have after reading reviews and glad I gave it a chance.Thought the Tharks were very well done and the motion capture expressions were excellent. Pity that they had to dump quite that much money into it, as I'd be very interested in a sequel but can't see where that's ever going to happen at this point.Overall a B+ that I'll raise to a A- for the earth-side bookends and particularly the ending.

[AniNate]

Welcome to Boxoffice.com!

[BiffMan]

Thanks! Hung out at Mojo for a few years, just hadn't gotten around to posting here yet since that went poof.

[baumer]

So good it's ridiculous. I enjoyed this much more than I thought i would. I was entertained and grinning the entire time. And when Collins got into her skimpy little princess outfit, I thought I'd died and gone to porn heaven. She is one stunning woman.9/10

[cookie]

I too did end up actually liking it very much. There's no denying that there's some serious flaws, but when it's done well it's done really well. I'll give a grade now and do a detailed analysis later.

8/10

Edited March 23, 2012 by C00k13

[BiffMan]

Saw it again today in the morning and THG in the evening. JC held up very well to a second viewing, and the beginning flowed quite a bit better. Still wish they hadn't gone the anti-hero angle with him in the opening since that makes it hard to get on board with the hero as quickly, but liking Taylor's performance better the 2nd time around.Oddly enough, I found that I enjoyed it more than THG and I'm a huge fan of the books and thought the movie was done quite well and fully satisfying. THG just hasn't eaten its way into my brain like JC did. That may change after it sinks in, and perhaps it's because if you know the books, THG can't really surprise or carry you away in the same way JC can.Have to raise my JC rating to a solid A, very enjoyable on 2nd viewing and by far the most compelling and entertaining movie I've seen so far this year.

[ladyevenstar22]

i'll review as i watch this onlinei had a hard time understanding what was going on , he's being followed next thing you know his nephew inherits his property and he's supposedly dead? i wasn't even sure it was his uncle until kid opens a book and pic looks vaguely like him then they flashback to 15 yrs uhh ok, at this point i'm wondering if the guy is actually dead or he return to marsanyway on mars they show these blue dude can't be hurt but one of those guys get killed by a good old american powder pistol lollll duh plot needs to move along, for some reason he's so surprise by the light gravity he forgets(really?) to keep a hand on the device that brought him there hmmmthe green babies were cute but as far as alien babies go i still drool over the squid in MIB1 :wub:and now we meet princess "i need a herooooo" i'll give her a few min to impress me ! NOW what had me LOL was the fact that marc anthony and cesar are playing themselves on mars i guess even actors have bills to pay(OT: i'm deep into "revenge" right now and james purefoy has just showed up there as lover to the queen of the hamptons victoria grayson)ok clearly there's a third faction(the blue guys) who are pitting these two clans against each other or at least giving them the extra push clever tacticok will come back in 30 mn again for another half-hr reviewback again:alien dog cute, princess finds her hero! something about being among green things will make you fearless to save the first humanoid chick you see awww! of course they did mention he was quite the hero in his us army cavalry!just when i was wondeting if i'd ever understand the alien gibberish some alien loner gives him milk of the poppy and badaboom he and us can understand mars dialect yeahhh! said alien loner seems to be an outcast who gets into trouble a lot uh-oh,then princess and hero have an astronomy class coolthe movie isnt that bad so far, just nothing to brag about, editing is weird, they didnt elaborate on him on earth so i don't feel so far concerned if he gets back or not, then there's this blond chick who pops up in his memory from time to time , i guess he lost his wife in the war to indians perhaps? but they're doing a poor job of making me curious about his flashbacksok be back in a while, wondering why the movie is over 2 hrs long ?wow this movie is taking itself way too seriously princess and hero talking a lot and once again having an astronomy/time-travel lesson or as he called it he was telegraphed from earth to mars, you don't say!!! :Dand i'm done watching it, it wasnt so bad really, now more than ever i believe they botched the intro of the movie, other creative choices could have save this film ,he was trying to find a way back to mars without even knowing if his princess is waiting for him or not ,why the hell didnt they go with that angle from the beginning and actually show him coming back to mars and being greeted ! what a mess...they could have easily tightened this down 30mn with better storytelling, who will want to watch this again to better understand the film now they know the ending mehhhi can't help but compare this to avatar in hindsight and wonder how come it had me at hello from just that sweeping view of the trees couple with the music and jake sully narrating voice, then when you see the na'vi you're just in awe of pandora and its inhabitants! this i just never felt connectedoh and an important ingredient when you have a warrior princess and hero from elsewhere involved : CHEMISTRY and good acting B)was there suppose to be a sequel? what book is this based on? if it is based on something, sighhhi just read all 2 pages of review something i agree on, others not so much like i found the music awful too loud and pompous but agree that visuals on mars are great!i gave it a B- by no means is it the worst movie of the year or decade, didnt feel like shooting myself just disappointed coz clearly it could have been better!

Edited May 20, 2012 by ladyevenstar22

[A Marvel Fanboy]

B+Movie actually was good.

[SchumacherFTW]

It's been a while since i've seen this (opening day), but I don't actually remember a single thing about it. It's not good, it's not bad, it's just there. Single most average film in history.C

[Rudolf]

it could have been so much betterI would have killed the whole frame story. In a book it is just a chapter, in a movie it costs $$$ and makes the movie longer or takes away time from the real story. The whole lesser gravity premise is not executed well. He should have looked like the astronauts on moon from begin to end to make that believable;hard to execute but so it looks like Superman or Hancock.

[AniNate]

I think the looking like Superman part is just something you have to go with for the story. That's part of what makes him so "special" on Mars.That being said, his jumping abilities were pretty much based on how much the plot needed them.

[Rudolf]

I think the looking like Superman part is just something you have to go with for the story. That's part of what makes him so "special" on Mars.That being said, his jumping abilities were pretty much based on how much the plot needed them.

yes but in that part where he learns his abilities, they show the disadvantages as well, later he just jumps at willBurroughs constructs a lot on this scientific fact, which became well know during his timeStanton has probably seen astronaut footage and Marses gravity is about twice that of the moon, so I would go for a sligtly jumping walk in John Carter, something Taylor Kitsch could have practiced in the film (slightly exagerated by CGI) That would have given the movie a distinctive feeling.

[Lordmandeep]

lol due to the notorious nature of this movie flopping.I think my expectations and others are very low for this film.Yeah I watched the film at home and it was not bad.A decent adventure film on par with many similar ones in its genre.The film could have been many times better however its not terrible or deserving of flopping so badly.B

[mdot1982]

I'd put it in the same league as Cowboys and Aliens , Green Lantern. Nothing special. F.

[Captain Craig]

I saw this and don't get why it wasn't able to catch on. We've heard advertising was to blame but I honestly don't recall what was so bad it's promotion. I've never read the books, comic adaptations sure but not the books, so maybe I was able to not be consumed with how well or correctly it was translating the material.

It's clear this was another source that George Lucas borrowed from.

I grade it a solid: B

[DAR]

I watched the film again tonight and I think I liked it even more. A

[Webslinger]

It looks really good and the story is compelling on occasion, but it's bogged down by weak acting, characters that don't quite connect with the audience, and a lack of clarity about the ins and outs of the world created onscreen. Andrew Stanton can't be faulted for lack of effort, but the film ultimately struggles to come together.

C+